Jamieson            Sunday 23rd January 2011

Ian Payne

Honda CBR1000

Bill Simpson

Suzuki GSXR1000

Peter Jones

Honda CBR1000

Cindy Lee

Suzuki GSXR750

Mark Copeland

Honda VTR1000

Robert Langer

BMW R1150GS

John Willis

Honda XL1000

Jason Duff

BMW S1000RR

Ben Warden

Honda CBR954

Geoff Dick

BMW 850

Pina Garasi

Honda CBR600

Marc Marais

Triumph 675

Cliff Peters

Kawasaki ZZR1200

Pierre Ong

Ducati 1098

Jason Wilson

Kawasaki ZX9

Geoff Jones

Yamaha R1

Tim Walker

Kawasaki ZX7R

 

17 bikes, 17 people

 

It’s Monday morning and I’m sitting here listening to that wonderful sound of rain on a Colorbond roof, while simultaneously sipping a lovely cup of tea.  It’s been a long time since I’ve done a really big ride like yesterday which might explain why my neck and shoulders are stiffer than a honeymooner’s old fella. Thank god I’ve got an RDO today, is all I can say. And not only because I’m a bit sore, but facing up to work after a great day’s riding leaves me wishing I was filthy rich and didn’t have to work at all.  Oh well. At least I’m filthy.

The ride yesterday saw me riding 725 km (I live in Bannockburn). I left home at 0800 and met Mark Copeland on the Ring Road at 0850. We exchanged a quick hello. Then it was off to Yarra Glen for fuel and Ben’s pre-ride brief. As I refuelled I saw Cliff pull into the servo at Yarra Glen only minutes behind me. I realised that we probably followed each other all the way up the highway from Geelong.  Hmm. Next time I will organise it a bit better.

As always it’s great to catch up with MSR people, some of whom I haven’t seen in a quite a while: Peter, Geoff, Ian, Rob and of course the always smiling Pina. It’s also good to meeting new folk like Tim, Cindy, Pierre and John man, that Varadero moves Willis, just to name a few, but indeed, not all. Sorry if I’ve forgot anyone.

OK, enough of that. What about the ride, I hear you ask.  Well it was long, it was hot, the roads were all new to me and it was totally awesome.  Sometimes the roads were quite challenging, both physically and mentally. Much concentration was required if one was to avoid disaster, especially when there were no signs giving you a heads-up as to the nature of the next corner.  A few times I’d go in hard and find myself facing a downward lefthand hairpin which had loose muck all over it. It’s these moments that would leave the muscles in my sphincter contracting almost to the point of no return. Note, I did say almost.  So I’d make a mental note and take the next corner a little easier, then later think “I could have gone through there a bit harder”. These are the joys of riding new roads and how a rider learns new skills and/or hones the ones they already have. It’s similar to riding in the rain in some ways. Whilst it’s not always fun, in the longer term it’ll make you a better rider. (The pommies suggest that riding in the rain makes you cold and wet, and not a better dry weather rider …Ed.)

The ride also highlighted to me the importance of the right suspension setting. In the past I’ve always been quite happy with the factory setting of the Gixxer, and therefore never really had to deal with suspension issues whilst out of a ride. But recently I had my bike serviced by this so called “expert” that mucked around with the settings without me asking him to. All I wanted was a book service. The only reason I take my bike to a shop is to get the stamp in the book. But I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to do all my own servicing, unless something really major is required.  Anyway the front end of my bike has been totally crap since this bloke played with it. At first I thought it was because my front tyre was worn (see my story in the last magazine) and then I thought I hadn’t balanced the rim properly when I changed the tyre myself. You know, maybe a mistake by a beginner! But by chance I was reading this really good article about suspension setups when the section on front-end preload jumped out at me. All the things my bike was doing wrong (unstable whilst under power and at high speed, very light, tank slappers ranging from light to medium. It actually felt like the front rim was bouncing along the road all the time. ) pointed to not enough preload. Not knowing much about the “Black Art” of suspension tuning and therefore a little nervous to play with it, Mark showed me how to make the adjustment while we were at Jamieson.  A few turns of a spanner and the bike felt almost like it did before that mechanic got his hands on it. It was great to sort it out and has given me some confidence to experiment a little more with this aspect of my bike. I think there is still room for improvement and I will get the static sag right next.

If anyone is interested in reading this article, follow the link:

 http://www.gostar-racing.com/information/motorcycle_suspension_set-up.htm

On this ride I got to see some fantastic parts of the state. I went to towns I’d never been to before i.e. Jamieson and Eildon and proudly did my bit for global warming. Sorry, am I allowed to say that?

I didn’t see many cops on the day but in an act that could only be described as that of a dog, Peter Jones got a ticket for riding less than 50 metres to the servo without his helmet on. Actually saying he was riding would even be a stretch. Man I feel for you but everyone else should take note of what happened and hopefully this won’t ever happen to anyone else. I sure won’t do that ever again. Like you said Pete, “Timing is everything!” 

The ride finished in Kinglake and I set sail for home. Cliff lead the way followed by Mark, Marc and yes, me. One by one we went our own way until the familiar sight of two little dogs losing the plot with excitement as their daddy arrived home filled my vision. As I got off my bike and did the mandatory stretch I realised just how big a day it had been.  I packed up my stuff, got out of my leathers and shared a slice of homemade banana cake that my daughter had made for me with a cup of tea. I thought to myself, “Does it get any better that this”?  NOT MUCH!

Bill Simpson